Capitalism, Dignity and The Health Care System

A relative of mine underwent surgery and it allowed me to revisit the horror that is the Romanian medical system and in particular the Romanian medical Man.

The hospital is not as dirty as I remembered it, so things must be getting better, but the kind of person you see employed there is about the same.

To me, Capitalism is an Arena. It's the Great Arena. It's the place where the strong show their strength. It's wonderful!

But wounded or sick people don't fight into an arena. Nor old people, nor children. There are rules and there must be some Esthetic to the fight. We need a safety net for these people because if you are sick and society fixes you up, you might return into the Arena and bring value into the world.

There is a lot of bribing going on in the Romanian National health care system and bribing means a severe lack of Dignity.

It's not just patients that lose their dignity, it's everyone involved.

The patient is an insured person that shouldn't have to pay a thing: the State takes a percentage from every salary for healthcare. It's with great hypocrisy that people are expected to bribe the doctors too as well as buy their own medical supplies. Yes, the patient is sent next door to the pharmacy to buy what's needed for the surgery!

Bribing is by definition a very hush-hush thing even if it happens at such a large scale: patients don't even know how much to give to whom, when and how many times. It is a great demeaning ambiguity.

But doctors don't have it any better. The same ambiguity makes them lose dignity too. I've seen the same doctor visit the patient about 4 times for nothing, just because he hadn't received his bribe yet. When the money entered his pocket, he was finally able to do something else. This is the life of a beggar.

Doctors must not be thinking about financial gains. A good salary combined with the general respect doctors have should provide a nice life for them.

Capitalism seems mostly incompatible with the medical profession. You cannot have a homo homini lupus situation where a weaker person which is not in the best shape will have to just trust somebody that's actually thinking about financial gains. People should be able to stand tall and look in each-other's eyes.